Think Honda Is Only a Car? Think Again!

I love my Honda Civic -- but I was surprised to learn that Honda is the last name of Soichiro Honda, born in Japan in 1906.Honda: The boy Who Dreamed of Cars is a picture book biography that begins with his early life and shows the long road to his eventual creation of Honda motorbikes and later Honda cars. He began working in a garage that repaired American-made cars, but all he was allowed to do was sweep the floor. It was almost a year before the owner decided he was dedicated enough to learn to become a mechanic. He spent six years there, and when he became an expert repairman he decided to open his own garage. Later he began to design specific motor parts, and even designed and drove race cars. At one time he built and drove the fastest car in Japan.

Mr. Honda was a perfectionist who expected all his motorcycles and cars to be built perfectly. He said that if things were't built properly, a customer's life was being put in danger. At the same time he gave his employees good salaries and built swimming pools and gyms in his company. He listened to his employees' ideas and they were allowed to keep the money that their inventions earned. He was an interesting guy!